The Art of Conscious Traveling
by Dr. Sheri Rosenthal
Spiritual travel is certainly a growing segment of the travel industry, mostly due to the generation of baby boomers having the time, inclination and desire to look deeply inside themselves. Perhaps the inspiration for this kind of travel started back in the “hippy days” when we were first investigating new and different approaches to spirituality – looking at Eastern philosophies, meditation techniques and esoteric spiritual traditions. Of course, many years have passed since then, and many of us have experienced marriages or profound relationships that may or may not have been successful. We have questions about our lives and how we want to experience the next half of our existence. As rebellious as the baby boomers were as a group – for the most part we have bought into the traditional family model and “American Dream.” Now perhaps we are looking to see if there is something beyond the material trappings of our comfortable lives.
I have traveled to many places in the world, and have seen many “poor” people who have lives that have more meaning, purpose, love and joy than many “wealthy” Americans I know. They seem to be grounded in a way that has them feeling valued as humans, rather than feeling like disposable numbers. I certainly do not mean to romanticize world poverty here – not at all – but I want to make it clear that our moneyed society members suffer greatly from depression, stress and a general malaise of sorts.
What is so powerful about a spiritual journey or retreat is the opportunity to leave our current lives for a while, and remove ourselves from the day to day stresses that steal our clarity of mind. It is true that sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees, and that it takes some separation and objectivity to have a deeper understanding of the circumstances of our lives.
On a great spiritual journey or retreat the facilitator will assist trip members in obtaining clarity about what is working and not working for them – and help them incorporate a deep sense of spirituality into their lives. Finding what is most important in our lives and prioritizing these items is the key to a balanced, peaceful, stressless and loving existence. To most, this means looking at the wants and needs of the ego-mind and learning to see beyond those never-fulfilled cravings to the true desires of the heart.
For many folks this is a challenging task since we were never taught to perceive our lives from this point of view. Material wants and needs have traditionally been given preference in our society, but in the end, we cannot take those things with us when we die. What makes a satisfying life is one filled with loving human relationships. And these days that seems to be a rare commodity! When we learn to strengthen our spiritual connections, everything falls into place in life. What is temporal is given less importance, and what is eternal is given primary focus. By visiting the many sacred sites in our world we have the opportunity to use the energy and intent of those places to focus on our spiritual evolution in a most positive and nurturing way.
